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Dumbo
Dumbo (The characters real name is actually Jumbo Jr.) debuted in 1939 as a children’s book written by Helen B. Mayer and Harold Pearl titled “Dumbo, the Flying Elephant”. It was published by a company known as Roll-A-Book and reportedly had only one printing of less than 1,000 copies.(According to Helen Mayer’s family) According to Joe Grant one of Disney’s story book men who worked on the 1941 animated feature the book was also published as a somewhat more unique book with a small box attached to the top were “As you rolled the wheels on top, the pictures would appear on top as they would in a film.” It was this version that was reportedly used as a model in the making of the film. (Helen B. Meyer’s family appears to be unaware of this version believing it to only have been published in standard form.) Reportedly Kay Kamen (head of Disney merchandising) showed a prototype of this book to Walt Disney who then purchased the rights to the story. The original concept of Dumbo was as an animated short but it was quickly bumped up to “A” picture status in an attempt to bring some cash into the financially ailing studio. Walt Disney ‘s previous two pictures “Fantasia” and “Pinocchio” were both expensive productions that flopped at the box office and at least in the case of “Fantasia” were panned by the critics. In addition a strike by the Disney’s animators loomed in the air. (The animation on Dumbo was finished just before the start of the strike that lasted for 5 weeks.) And to make things worse Europe was engulfed in the middle of the Second World War and the studio had lost 3/4 of its foreign market. For the movies release Time Magazine was planning a cover story about Dumbo but the bombing of Pearl Harbor pre-empted that and Admiral Yamamoto appeared on the cover instead. Nonetheless Dumbo was a huge success. Thanks to cost saving measures in the production (such as limiting use of the multi-plane camera and utilizing water colored back drops.) the film came in at a budget of only $813,000 and grossed $1,600,000 upon its original release. The success of Dumbo saved the Disney studio from financial collapse. At 1941 Academy Award presentation Dumbo would win the award for “Best Scoring of a Musical Picture”. On march 29th a Tim Burton directed remake is set to be released in theaters. Dumbos Story Dumbo's real name was Jumbo Jr. son of a circus elephant. He found himself mercilessly ridiculed and belittled by the other elephants and circus patrons due to his freakishly large ears over wich he frequently tripped and was mockingly given the name Dumbo. One day while Dumbo was being abused by circus patrons Jumbo, Dumbo's mother, intervened but only managed to get herself locked up and declared mad. To make Dumbos' misery even worse the circus demoted him to circus clown, causing him to be even further ostrocised by the elephants. It was a circus mouse called Timothy who would befriend him and try to lift his spirits. One day the two friends became intoxicated when the water they were drinking from was accidentally spiked. The two had wild hallucinations about dancing pink elephants. When the two woke up they found themselves on top of a tree with no recollection of how they got there. Before falling out of the tree and landing savely in a puddle the two met a group of jive talking crows. After being told of Dumbo's plight by Timothy, the crows decide to help Dumbo by teaching him how to fly. (They convince him he can fly by tricking him into believing that a feather they give him is magical). When the two friends return to circus Dumbo's newfound talent become a huge success. 'Events after the movie' Dumbo with Timothy as his manager turned the circus into a financial success. The circus was even renamed to "Dumbos Flying Circus". One day however Dumbos friend / manager disapeared putting Dumbo into a deep depression that kept him from performing wich eventually got him fired from the circus. Not knowing what to do Dumbo sought help from two chipmunk, Chip 'N' Dale. Eventually Chip 'N' Dale ended up helping Dumbo find and rescue his friend who it turns out had been kidnapped and taken prisoner by the Wicked Witch (the same one that terrorized Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs). Once the Timothy was rescued and the two friends were reunited Dumbo was able to return to the circus and perform the way he used to. List of Comic Book Appearances (As the Lead) *Four Color (Issue 17) *Four Color (Issue 234) *Four Color (Issue 668 - 1st printing) ; Movie Adaptation *Four Color (Issue 668 - 2nd printing) ; Movie Adaptation *Large Feature Comics (Issue 19) *Walt Disney Showcase (Issue 12) ; Movie Adaptation *Movie Comics : Dumbo ; Movie Adaptation 'Other Comic Book Appearances' *"A Witch In Time "'- '''Chip 'N Dale (Issue 22) *"(Untitled)" - Walt Disney Comics and Stories (Issue 61) 'First Appearance: *Dumbo, the Flying Elephant (1939 - Illustrated Childrens Book) *Dumbo (1941- Animated Feature Film; 1st "Disney" Dumbo) '''Also See *Dumbo Photo Gallery Category:Characters in "Dumbo"